1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to the field of pinstripe painting. More particularly, this invention relates to a pinstripe painting guide particularly useful for painting pinstripes on automobiles and a method for manufacturing such pinstripe painting guides. The guides are light and easily manufactured, and they can be used to inexpensively make a mold for mass production.
2. Background of the Invention
Painting guides are described in several U.S. Patents. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,722 to Krizman, a painting guide useful for providing pinstripes on automobiles and the like is described. In this patent, a magnetic strip includes a track which guides a roller for application of the paint. This magnetic strip can be attached to the side of the surface being painted and flexed into conformity with the curves of the surface. The this magnetic strip is flexible enough to assure that the guide can be adjusted to provide a straight or curved pinstripe as desired.
Unfortunately, although this guide mechanism, with certain limitations, works quite well, it requires a substantial setup time since the magnetic strip bearing the guide track tends to deform somewhat. The long lengths required to pinstripe a typical automobile tend to become disfigured while being handled, applied or removed from the surface and must therefore be applied with great care. Every inch of the guide must be carefully aligned and straightened by bending so that the resulting pinstripe will be of the proper shape and will not be wavy or misaligned with the automobile's features. This adjustment process must be repeated each time the guide is used and can take up to several hours to obtain proper adjustment, depending upon the automobile, the contour being painted, the quality level required and the care of the painter. Also, some sharper curves are not attainable with Krizman's system because the magnetic strip attempts to maintain a straight shape and the extrusion memory overcomes the magnet's ability to stay in place and it will fall from the car. For example, sharp curves extending from a side of a car to a back of a car cannot be readily achieved with this system.
In automobile factories, pinstriping is done with an elaborate rigid guide which is also tedious to adjust initially, but once adjusted for a particular model of automobile, can be used repeatedly. Unfortunately, such guides are both costly and too heavy and bulky for use by a typical painting shop, auto dealer or other aftermarket pinstripe painter.
The present invention ameliorates these problems by providing an improved paint guide which, once fabricated, retains its shape for use in similar car models without significant adjustment. It is small and light enough to be readily stored and handled by a lone worker and can be inexpensively fabricated. It is, thus, much more suitable for use in aftermarket applications than those of the prior art.
The paint applicator used in U.S. Pat. No. 3,448,722 is similar to those also disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,859,072 and 1,945,730 and is the type for which the present invention is specifically designed. These patents are hereby incorporated by reference.